Jordan scraps law allowing rapists to marry victims

Amman, Aug 1 (IANS) Jordan Parliament’s lower house on Tuesday repealed a law which allowed rapists to avoid punishment by marrying their victims, the media reported.

The Jordanian Cabinet had previously suggested removing the article as part of an ongoing effort to reform the country’s penal code, which dates back to 1960, Efe news reported.

According to the monitoring group Human Rights Watch, countries in the same region such as Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine and Syria still retain a similar provision.

In July, Tunisia removed the provision, while Lebanon is currently in the process of scrapping Article 522 from its penal code, which also allowed sex offenders to marry their victims and avoid prison.